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Most regretted blind buy?
- Thread starter elmerPHuD
- Start date
What? Really? That's one of my favorite razors.
mrdoug
"TSC's Shave Sales Deal Finder"
I'm curious about this selection... For me personally, the shave soap is either too strong or mixed wrong. I am not a huge fan of it at all. But...Stirling Island Man soap, AS and balm.
On the other side of the coin, the bar hand soap of the same flavor is awesome. Again, it's either the strength or the mix, but it just nails what I think the shave soap should have been.
If you feel it could be the same for you, it might be worthwhile to request a bar soap sample in your next order. Rod is really nice and tries to accommodate sample requests when he can.
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wazabees
Jr. Shave Member
The shaving soap was just OK in my opinion. It has a scent profile that I personally don't like very much. Maybe it's the musk scent? The balm was just... wrong. It didn't smell like the soap at all. It's difficult to describe, but it smelled like some kind of medical cream - a very chemical scent. It didn't resemble the soap at all. The aftershave did have a scent profile similar to the soap. It's just sooo strong. I opened the bottle, just to have a smell, and I got a couple of drops on my fingers. The scent followed me around, even after washing my hands a couple of times.
Unfortunately, I'm in Europe, so no samples available here. I purchased the Stirling products via a EU reseller.
Now that said, I find the Stirling Glacial Lemon awesome. If the lemon scent had a longevity like Island Man, I'd be happy.
I can't get it to cut my beard. I've gotten closer shaves with an electric. I've never used a DE in which the proper angle didn't automatically happen.
I do find it to be very mild, which I enjoy, especially with a sharp blade, like the feather. But I didn’t find the angle any different than any other razor.
novicewetshaver
Sr. Shave Member
Declaration groomings weinstrasse, i though i would like it but after the grape notes where its smells funky to my nose, i have full tub of the stuff with the aftershave just sitting here, trying to get rid of it. i emailed the guy at declaration grooming asking if i could trade it out for a different scent 3 times but he never got back to me. which is unfornate because i have masscre of the inncoents and chaoitc nuetral which ir eally enjoy.
We’ve all been there - sometimes it is difficult figuring out from the scent notes and DC is known to obfuscate when it comes to his scent descriptions…there are some places where you can buy samples to try out a soap (such as Maggard Razors) or shave dash (for Europe).
you could try selling tbe soap that you want (it’s allowed in the buy-sell-trade section: Buy-Sell-Trade) or Murphy & McNeil website. Or, if you are feeling generous - there you could do a pay it forward (PIF) and give it away. There’s bound to be someone that likes the scent - the whole ymmv - what someone dislikes might be the fav of someone else)
one other thing that might help - you can always do a search here to look up a soap and see what other’s opinions are or go to trythatsoap.com which will give a realistic breakdown of the scent notes and others opinions.
by the way - welcome to the club here! if you haven’t yet say hi in the newbie section !
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novicewetshaver
Sr. Shave Member
will do, i'll post it later this evening to see if anyone woudl ike to trade it for something.
Yeah, I agree with scuttlesoap, either sell, trade, or PIF. Scent is so subjective, it’s always buyer beware. You win some you lose some. We’ve all been there. It’s not up to the artisan seller to do anything to accommodate you just because you don’t like the scent. That said, it never hurts to ask, as some may go out of their way to help you (I know CBL has done this on a few occasions), but I’d never expect it.
mrdoug
"TSC's Shave Sales Deal Finder"
Amen.
Chris is wonderful. He's done custom requests, spent time discussing and describing the scents, and just all around bends over backwards for his customers.
I have two CBL soaps from him that fall in this category: I believe both don't exist in the base I got, and are discontinued scents.
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novicewetshaver
Sr. Shave Member
First off i wasn't asking anyone to bend over backwards for me. i emailed the guy as my shipment was in transit, all i was asking for was either an exchange or store credit and i never recieved a response which i thought was kind of odd seeing as i hadnt even used the product. i got a sample from maggards razor sniffed the puck and thought i might like it so i ordered, but when i lathered the soap it became off putting, which is why i wanted to either exchange it or get store credit.
I understand where you’re coming from - and experiences vary from vendor to vendor - but, and this is only meant to educate not chastise,and not to discredit your experience - these artisans are in most cases very small business and for most - this isn’t their only job. And their products have low margins - because they are not mass producing - so they might not be able to exchange or replace - because regardless if you used it or not - they won’t be able to resell it.
that isn’t to say you shouldn’t get a response- but those are some of the reasons. Again, it varies from each artisan.
Have had a few regrets from blind buys most were due to scent:
Wet The Face 1K- this scent was SoOO disappointing, the description sounded amazing but can only detect a light muted base note. I will add that WTF is a good performing soap and have several other of their soaps with excellent scents.
Envy Shave Senbo- nearly unscented with some slight hints of beeswax.
Fitjar- have 2 soaps and both are practically unscented.
La Savon Burbonaise- this soap doesn't lather worth a damn and was one bloody shave.
Wet The Face 1K- this scent was SoOO disappointing, the description sounded amazing but can only detect a light muted base note. I will add that WTF is a good performing soap and have several other of their soaps with excellent scents.
Envy Shave Senbo- nearly unscented with some slight hints of beeswax.
Fitjar- have 2 soaps and both are practically unscented.
La Savon Burbonaise- this soap doesn't lather worth a damn and was one bloody shave.
OpusX
TSC’s Master of Warp Cores, Alchemy, Ale, & Cider
Recently, original Grey Flannel. Based on the "Eau de" flanker being a good freshy I thought this might be an more robust 80's favorite. Nope nope nope. To me it has an acrid pickle vinegar, laundry dryer sheet, old lady purse, combo that is a big nope. Oh well, it was $10, and worth a shot I guess.
You show that razor who’s boss!
global_dev
Shave Enthusiast
My first experience w/ an MMOC i didnt realize the corner blade tabs were missing… oof